Safety bath-tub mat.



L. n. 101m. SAFETY BATH TUB MAT.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 18,1917.

Lg., Patented sept. 11, 1917.

1g-VII? l'f//AWIW ffm/em LA. D. TOLLEY, F LOTTI-S, MISSOURI.

SAFETY BATH-TUB MAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led January 18, 1917. Seria No. 143,068.

,and useful Improvement in Safety Bath- Tub Mats, of which the followingis a full,

clear, and exact description, such as will en-` able others skilled in the art to which itv appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to a safety bath tub mat, the principal object of my invention being to provide a comparatively simple and inexpensive device, preferably in the form of a mat of rubber or composition which can be readily applied to or removed from a bath tub which will be edective in preventing slipping and consequent injury to persons using the bath tub.

It will be understood that the interior surfaces of the modern types of bath tubs are enameled and that these surfaces, when wet, are exceedingly slippery, and 1 propose to provide a flexible mat adapted to lit in the bottom of the tub and to provide means for anchoring said mat in position so that it will not shift or slip under a persons weight.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of a bath tub with a safety bath mat of my improved construction applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of the mat;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section taken approm'mately on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal section taken approximately on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4:.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 10 designates a mat of considerably soft flexible material such as rubber or rubber composition, the body of said mat being preferably perforated.

Formed in the underside of the mat and preferably along the edge thereof is a series lof cup-shaped pockets 11 which, when the mat is properly positioned in the bottom of a bath tub, perform the functions of suction recesses which are effective in causing the mat to maintain its position in the bottom of the tub.

In this connection it will be understood that after the mat has been applied to the tub, pressure can be applied to the edges of said mat to expel a portion of the air from the suction recesses, with the result that the edge of said mat will adhere firmly to the smooth inner surface of said tub.

Embedded in the edge of the mat near the ends thereof are plates v12, preferably of metal, said plates being perforated as designated by 13, Iand as these plates are embedded in the mat at the time the same is formed, the material of which the mat is composed will fill the apertures 13, thereby serving to eEectively anchor said plates to the mat.

Fach plate is provided with an extension 14, the same terminating in a ring 15, the latter lying immediately adjacent to the edge of the mat, and secured to these projecting rings are the inner ends of chains 16, the outer ends of which are provided with hooks 17. These chains 16 are of suicient length to permit the hooks 17 to be engaged over the rounded upper edge of the tub when the mat is in position on'the bottom thereof.

A safety bath mat of my improved construction is comparatively simple, can be readily applied to or removed from a tub and when properly positioned for use, forms a` firm and substantial surface on which the user of the bath tub may" sit or stand. The

chains at both ends of the mat, together with the suction recesses, are eEectiye in maintaining the mat in fixed position within the tub, with the result that the user of the tub has a firm footing therein, and accidents due to slipping while entering or leaving the tub are eliminated.

The mat and its attaching chains being fiexible can readily be rolled or folded so as to occupy comparativel little space while in storage or when pac ed for transportation.

llt will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved bath mat can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without depart- Fatentedept. ll, 1191"?,

ing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim: f

1. The hereindescribed safety bath' mat comprising a section of flexible Water-proof material, plates embedded in the ends of said section of material, chains secured to said plates, and hooks on the ends of said chains.

2. The hereindescribed safety bath `mat comprising a section of eXible Water-proof material, plates embedded in said seetion of material near the edges thereof, said plates being provided with erforations which are filled with the materlal of which the mat is formed, chains secured to said plates, and

hooks on the ends 'of said ehains, which LAVINIA D. ToLLEY. 

